Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield exchanged some trash talk with Houston Texans cornerback CJ Gardner-Johnson on Monday night, and the two veterans have since kept the beef going.
Mayfield appeared to injure his knee after being tackled on a scramble play during the fourth quarter of the Buccaneers’ 20-19 Week 2 win over the Texans on Monday. The quarterback quickly shook it off and sprung to his feet after Gardner-Johnson appeared to say something that Mayfield did not appreciate.
Mayfield then got into Gardner-Johnson’s face before teammates came over to separate the two.
Injuries heal quick for Baker when he has to trash talk pic.twitter.com/G1MdraeMoY
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 16, 2025
On Wednesday, Mayfield shared some photos from the game on his Instagram account. One of them showed him and Gardner-Johnson jawing at each other. Mayfield was later asked about the exchange during his media availability.
“We don’t take any s—. That’s about it,” Mayfield said told reporters, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
Though Mayfield put together a game-winning drive, Gardner-Johnson was not about to back down. The cornerback responded to Mayfield with a comment on Mayfield’s Instagram post.
“Boy this cute but still ringless,” Gardner-Johnson wrote.
CJ Gardner-Johnson is hilarious bro. 😭 pic.twitter.com/v6zjHmVdC1
— saucy (@saucybtww) September 17, 2025
Gardner-Johnson is coming off a season in which he won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mayfield is known for being an intense player. He won a lot of fans over with one of his runs during the playoffs last year, and he has never been afraid of contact or confrontations.
Gardner-Johnson’s team may have lost the game, but he wanted to remind Mayfield that he still has a piece of hardware that the quarterback covets.
